BinhDuong (VNA) –The southern province of Binh Duong pledges toensure an open and transparent business environment and provide optimalconditions for investors, said Chairman of the provincial People’s CommitteeTran Thanh Liem.

At a meeting with foreign investors on September 26, Liem said the provincewill continue improve the investment climate to raise its competitiveness andincrease support for businesses’ development.

Itwill focus resources on completing socio-economic infrastructure, expandingindustrial zones, training human resources, building social houses for workers.

The locality will develop high quality services to meet demands of enterpriseswhile ensuring political security, social order and safety, he added.

The local authorities also answered all questions raised by investors relatedto social and medical insurance, taxes, natural disaster prevention and controlof funds and overtime shift.

Liem said that ideas related to legal issues at the meeting would be collectedand submitted to the Government in order to help enterprises solve problems.

The province reported that it had attained 140 percent of its annual target inforeign direct investment (FDI) during the first nine months of the year.

The provincial Department of Investment and Planning said total FDI in thefirst nine months of the year stood at nearly 1.97 billion USD, a jump of 27percent compared with the same period last year.

During the period, the province attracted 148 new projects valued at a total of1.165 billion USD.

Another 87 projects added capital of 765 million USD, according to thedepartment. About 90 percent of the projects are in industrial zones.

Binh Duong has a total of nearly 3,000 FDI projects, worth over 27.7 billionUSD from 60 countries and territories.

“The provincial investment environment has improved towards sustainabledevelopment. The advantageous fields in the province such as the electricalpower industry, electronics, mechanics, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and serviceand trading (and others) have attracted investors,” said Nguyen Thanh Truc,Director of the Department of Investment and Planning.

“The number of foreign investors visiting Binh Duong to study the investmentenvironment has increased significantly year on year,” he said.

In order to create a better investment climate, the province’s leaders andauthorities work regularly with investors to learn about their difficulties andhelp them solve problems. This is the second time that the province has metwith investors this year.

Truc said that during the past years, Binh Duong had invested ininfrastructure, especially the transport network, which facilitates connectionswith HCM City, the Mekong Delta, the Southeast region and southern CentralHighlands.

Many important transport routes have been invested and put into operation suchas Binh Duong Boulevard and My Phuoc – Tan Van, which connects industrial parkswith seaports and airports.

The industrial parks, new urban areas and services are highly developed tobetter serve investors.

Currently, the province has 28 industrial parks with a total area of over10,560 ha and 71 percent of rental rate. It also has 11 industrial clusterswith total 802 ha with a 55 percent rental rate.

The province has also approved a master plan for industrial park development.By 2020, there will be 34 industrial parks with total area of nearly 15,000ha.

An industrial - service - urban complex has been established on an area of4,000ha with a total of 400,000 residents. The complex has spurred developmentof new urban areas in neighbouring localities for the Bau Bang service andurban area.

Binh Duong is located in the centre of the southern key economic zone, the mostdynamic region of the country. It is a strategic traffic gateway between theCentral Highlands region, central provinces and HCM City.

FDI is an essential source for the province’s socio-economic development andeconomic structure.

Last year, FDI contributed over 49 percent of total social investment, over 67percent industrial production value, and over 82 percent of export turnover tothe province.-VNA